It was my first time at Apple Hill as a Northern California newbie. Here’s how I did it right

By Savanna Smith

Updated October 13, 2022 9:54 AM

A hot apple cider doughnut from Rainbow Orchards on Apple Hill near Camino on Saturday. Savanna Smith The Sacramento Bee

I drove up Highway 50 from Sacramento on a warm Saturday morning, with the advice, caution and tributes I’d gathered the week before echoing all the way to Apple Hill.

It will be wildly busy in October, so get there early.

There are “no” apples this year.

It’s what Northern California does best.

Expectations were high — and nerves about large crowds and lines of traffic mounted. Who wants to spend a 90-degree day stuck in line?

I started this job — service journalism editor at The Sacramento Bee — a year ago last week. Virtually, I began to learn the town from my Kansas City apartment before moving west Thanksgiving weekend. I’ve come to feel at home on weekend drives to the Sierra foothills, excited to explore everything this Eden has to offer.

I was told the views from Apple Hill in Camino, east of Placerville, are hard to beat — and with a glass of wine in my hand, this Midwesterner had to admit it was certainly something special.

Determined to do Apple Hill “right,” I wanted to find this autumn bliss in just one day. I was able to mostly avoid crowds and traffic, even gawking at them as I drove the other way to find hot apple cider doughnuts.

How I did Apple Hill right on my first try

I want to clarify a few thing up front:

It’s improbable (maybe impossible) to stop at every Apple Hill Growers Association farm in a seven hours. I managed five stops — two of them rather quick to round out the day with an apple pie and hard cider to take home. There are roughly 50 farms, wineries and bakeries total.
It was lovely to see families around, children picking out pumpkins and slingshotting apples. But I don’t have kids. With them, I imagine I would have had a completely different day.
I brought my dog along, and he was a conversation magnet.

My right way might not be yours. But for my fellow newcomers and longtimers looking to change it up, I hope what my fresh eyes discovered inspires a delightful time.

Map: The Sacramento Bee

The drive to Apple Hill

I left Sacramento around 9:30 a.m. with my significant other, with a quick stop for cash (we ended up needing some for parking, otherwise a debit card sufficed).

It was easy to take the 50 all the way through, with little traffic until we hit Placerville. Signs encouraged us to take exit 48, 49 or 54 for Apple Hill — contrary to the Google Maps directions. We took 49, which brought us down winding roads where traffic got more congested. However, we didn’t get stuck in the line just off the highway, which stretched on and on. Our friends, whom we were meeting, beat us using exit 54 for a quick entrance to Rainbow Orchards, our first stop. I suggest opening up your windows once you exit the freeway to let in the smell of pine as you make your way.

It took roughly an hour’s drive, which would be more or less, depending on from where in Sacramento you’re leaving.

Hot apple cider doughnuts

We got to Rainbow Orchards just in time for a breakfast of sugar-coated hot apple cider doughnuts, just out of the fryer.

A half-dozen apple cider doughnuts from Rainbow Orchards on Apple Hill. Savanna Smith The Sacramento Bee

It was already starting to heat up just before 11 a.m., so we grabbed a picnic table in the shade. Our dogs greeted every adult, child and animal that walked past. But once we got settled, it was a fantastic way to kick off the day.

The orchard was bustling, but not too busy. At any given time, there were open tables. Children ran around hay bales, and well-behaved dogs sat at their owners’ feet.

We cheers’ed to the day with Rainbow Orchards apple cider and heeded friends’ advice: Don’t rush through it.

Now time for hard cider

Full disclosure: This next stop was really why we came, and it did not disappoint (though it was made much more enjoyable once our stomachs were coated with doughnuts).

With sixteen ciders to choose from, including a a non-alcoholic option, Hidden Star Camino made for a wonderful visit.

A hard cider flight from Hidden Star Camino on Apple Hill. Savanna Smith The Sacramento Bee

We sipped on a flight of blueberry, rhubarb, cucumber and, of course, apple hard ciders as we debated whether or not it was worth $12 to slingshot a bag of apples at faraway tin slabs. It looked fun, but we saved our pennies for apple pie.

Tip for the hard cider stop: Get there just before noon, and you might luck out with short lines and open parking. It was $5 cash to bring the car in.

Wine and a view

Still full on the morning’s doughnuts (we each ate three), we decided to forgo lunch and head up the road to Wofford Acres Vineyard.

That’s where we got a true view — the kind photos can’t do it justice.

The view from Wofford Acres Vineyard on Apple Hill. Savanna Smith The Sacramento Bee

A glass of wine at Wofford Acres Vineyard on Apple Hill, Oct. 8, 2022. Savanna Smith The Sacramento Bee

A much quieter stop on our trip, this is where we spent most of our time. If you’re looking for a kid-free zone with good wine, welcoming staff and a down-to-earth feel, this is your place.

I sipped on a rosé, and later a dry red. The vineyard did both wonderfully. A door in the backroom had heights of growing children marked on it just in front of the vintage barrels.

We chatted with the winegrowers about dogs, and apples, and bears stealing grapes after being pushed out of Tahoe National Forest by the fires.

Ollie, Smith’s 5-year-old mini schnauzer, lays in the grass at Wofford Acres Vineyard on Saturday. Savanna Smith The Sacramento Bee

The apple yield this year, I was told, was decimated by an April frost. And between the cold and the bears, not all the grapes made it, either. Many of the apples this year were brought up from the Central Valley.

Farming is not for the faint of heart.

Savanna Smith, an editor at The Bee, enjoys time with friends at Wofford Acres Vineyard on Apple Hill on Saturday. Courtesy photo

Pie and cider to go

By now, we were pushing 4 p.m. and still needed some sort of apple dessert to take home. We drove just down the road, parking at North Canyon Cider Co. as our friends picked up pineapple ginger cider to bring back for dinner. Our role: dessert. Across the street, Apple Pantry Farm was about to close, but we got in just under the wire and emerged with a pie for that night and one to stick in our freezer for Thanksgiving.

Those apples, we were told, were local — they survived the spring frost. And the pie, served warm with a dollop of ice cream, was delicious. I was too tired by that point to remember a photograph; you’ll just have to trust me on it.

I’d love to hear your Apple Hill tips and memories. If you wish, share them with me at sasmith@sacbee.com.

This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 6:30 AM.